Tangled
by Rizay
Summary: Sequel to "Free For All".The game is in the open. The players know what they want and what they are up against. May the best man win. ?/Shu. Updated after ridiculously long hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi Everyone, I'm Baaacccckkkk!!! Shall we take the boys out for another joyride? I am excited to be starting a new story and I hope everyone enjoys it. Please share any criticism or encouragement that occurs to you, or just drop me a line to let me know you're out there._

_Warnings: foul language, eventual smut, MaleXMale (all the good stuff...)_

_As always...I do not own Gravitation, but I do have Yami no Matsuei on layaway._

Eiri approached the entrance of the main ballroom, with the same amount of enthusiasm most people reserve for a colonoscopy. It was the publishing industry's biggest stroke fest of the year. Awards would be flying out left and right, and several of them were sure to hit him. He had tried every excuse in the world to avoid this sycophant circle jerk, and not one even had a chance. He had claimed to have every communicable disease in the world and swore that he only had sneeze once and the entire literary community would be wiped out in the ensuing pandemic, they had threatened to send him in a plastic bubble and sell the story rights to the NHK. He said his entire family had been killed in a horrible accident and he had to meet with the funeral director and negotiate a group discount on the burial, they said they found that interesting since the same thing had happened last year and he had to miss the party so he could build their funeral pyres with his own two hands. Finally he had pulled out his last excuse, If they tried to make him go to this travesty he would commit ritual suicide in order to maintain his self respect and dignity, they said that if he died there was a clause in his last contract that gave them the right to dress his decomposing corpse in a tuxedo and take it to the party to accept the damn awards. Defeat tasted bitter but he swallowed it anyway.

He had also been forced to lie to his brat. He knew it was wrong, and whether anyone would believe it or not, he did feel guilty about it, but the only thing that could make this catered clusterfuck worse was coming here as a couple. All Eiri wanted to do was drink an obligatory glass of champagne, grab his award for "best sex scene written as a dancing metaphor" or "most panty dampening prologue" or whatever the hell he had to smile and act humble about, and then get the hell out as fast as he could. Shuichi loved shit like this though, and if Eiri had brought him he would have been forced to dance and eat and mingle for half the night, all under the watchful eye of about three dozen reporters. Tommorow morning every word they uttered and every move they made would be dissected and analyzed in newspapers all over Japan. Either of them alone made good copy for any paper or tabloid, but whenever they went out together they started a journalistic feeding frenzy. So he had been forced to hand his trusting baka a bullshit story about a business dinner..very boring ...blah blah blah... and Shuichi had just smiled and said "No problem, I am supposed to go to some publicity thing anyway." He had looked down at his feet then and blushed slightly "When we get home maybe we can have some time together..." He looked so cute just then that Eiri couldn't help leaning down and capturing the boy's lips with his own. As soon as the baka left, Eiri felt a bolt of pain shoot across both of his temples and through his gut, and he realized that his conscience had just declared war on him. The only way he could appease it was to swear that he would tell Shuichi the truth as soon as they got home and give him a real apology (and some jewlery, and maybe some flowers, and candy definitely candy...).

Eiri took a glass of champagne, drew in a deep breath and prepared himself to be civil to the army of shmoozing suck ups who were already beginning to surround him. Two hours of acceptance speaches later, just when he thought he might be able to escape soon, he noticed all of the photographers converging on the entrance, jockeying for position. Then there was explosion of activity as all of them began firing at once, trying to get the perfect shot of his brat being escorted into the room by a happily beaming Ryuichi Sakuma.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry that I disappeared like that! I got distracted by something shiny, and forgot all about the story I had started. Thank you for the reviews Tsuki the Ryuujin no Miko, RRW, and GetyourZexion I realize that it's been so long you probably forgotten, but I hope you guys can forgive the delay._

_I do not own Gravitation, but that's never stopped me before._

Ryuichi could not stop smiling. He was really happy for the first time in six months. SIX MONTHS! For six months he had been trapped on an island off the coast of Argentina with Tohma and Noriko. They had worked out enough new material to release a double album, and then proceeded to film three videos.

Noriko had brought her family with her and Ryuichi had taken Tat chan (HUGE mistake!), but Tohma had gone alone. Ryu thought it was probably a good thing that Mika had not gone with them. He was pretty sure that Tohma had lost his mind and it would probably be better if he found it again before spending any quality time with his wife.

Ryu and Tohma had an unspoken agreement, that they would not discuss Shu chan or the incidents that had led up to their fleeing Japan, but they both knew that the other had not given up. They were just having a time out. For Ryu it had been a chance to reflect, to see where he had made his mistakes, and plan for the next round. For Tohma it had been time to obsess and become unhinged.

Ryu had not known that Tohma was going insane from the beginning. Kuma had noticed it first. They had argued the topic for days. Kuma pointing out that Tohma was pacing all the time, even shifting his feet constantly while he played his keyboard, and he had picked up a very un-Tohma like habit of muttering to himself when he thought no one was looking. Ryu countered with Tohma's good health. He wasn't losing weight, his eyes were bright and clear and he was working out with his personal trainer twice a day. Kuma just snorted and said something about only Tohma being able to go batshit insane and thrive on it.

They had waited and watched, until one day while Tohma was busy in a meeting with one of the video directors, they had taken the chance to play detective.

"Kuma chan we shouldn't be doing this." Ryuichi said in a low voice as they snuck down the hall towards Tohma's apartment. Kuma explained that they weren't going to take anything, just look around a little bit. They would check to see if maybe there was something on Tohma's computer or a piece of mail that would confirm what Kuma was afraid of. Ryuichi let Kuma pick the lock on the door while he stood lookout.

"Just remember, we have to look everywhere" Ryu said finally warming up to his role as head detective "a clue can be hidden in the smallest..." his voice broke off as they opened the door and were greeted by hundreds of Shuichis.

Shuichis hung on every wall, magazine and newspaper clippings, publicity stills, but mostly surveillance photos. Shuichi singing, Shuichi smiling, Shuichi eating, Shuichi dancing, Shuichi undressing (Ryuichi considered stealing that one, but Kuma chan said Tohma would definitely know if that one was missing) everything but Shuichi on the toilet, thank all the powers of the universe for that. Many of the photos had been hacked at with scissors and it only took a quick peek in the wastepaper basket to see why. There were other people who had been in the pictures with Shu chan a couple of Ks and Sugurus, A couple dozen Hiros and probably a hundred Yuki Eiris. Kuma said it was time to get the hell out of there, but Ryuichi was already running back down the hall before Kuma could even finish the thought.

Ryuichi wanted to tell Tat chan as soon as he could. He needed his help. They had to get back to Japan and grab Shu chan before Tohma finally snapped and went after Shu himself. He didn't get a chance to tell Tatsuha anything though. He had run full tilt to the hotel where he and Tat chan had been living. He bolted through the house searching for him and threw open the bedroom door, just to find Tat chan sprawled across their bed in his robe with a redhead with huge tits sleeping curled up with him wearing Ryuichi's robe. Both of them were snoring loudly. With tears rolling down his face Ryuichi managed to get Kuma out of the there, without Kuma following through on his threat to take Tatsuha's dick with them.

It had taken him about an hour to take a cab to the airport and have the ticket agent set him up with the tickets and connections he needed to get back to Japan. When they announced that his flight was boarding, he paused to send a text to Tatsuha. One sentence only. I hope she was worth it.

Now less than thirty six hours later he was back in Japan. A mangaka friend of his was getting an award for a manga he drawn, where one of the main characters was based on Ryu chan. He had gone to NG and begged Shu chan to come with him and promised no drugs, handcuffs or duct tape. K had been harder to convince, but K could never really refuse Ryu chan.

So here he was with Shu chan safely beside him and all was right with the world, except ... Shu chan's eyes widened with surprise and then his face shifted a bit. Shu chan was clinging to his smile, knowing that the cameras were on them, but Shu chan was no Tohma and Ryu was close enough to see distress and then pain mark his features. Ryuichi followed Shu chan's gaze straight to the source of all Shu's pain, Yuki Eiri who stood looking bored and detached about fifty feet away. The writer's public mask could put even Tohma to shame and his eyes didn't even flicker, but Ryu didn't need to read the writer's face to know that he done something wrong and hurt Shu chan. Ryuichi would never do anything to hurt his Shu chan, but that did not mean that he wouldn't use the pain the author had already caused to drive a wedge between the cruel bastard, and his Shuichi.

Internally Ryu chan's smile widened just a bit as he waved the journalists off with an excuse about Shuichi suddenly feeling ill. He slung an arm around Shu chan's waist and led him back to the limo. He waited until they pulled away from the curb before he pulled Shu chan into his arms and said "It's ok now, let it out." He held Shu tight to him as he felt the tears start to drop.


	3. Chapter 3

_Well girls (and boys) Shu has managed to drive Tohma insane and Tatsuha has been caught with his pants down (Don't be too hard on Tatsuha though, we haven't heard his side of the story.) Yuki in the meanwhile has been busted for lying to his koibito and had to watch while he was led away by a very "concerned" Ryu chan. The trouble boys can get into..._

_Thanks for the review SadandLonelyOne I did a happy dance just for you!_

_I do not own Gravitation, these boys belong to Murakami Maki Sensei._

Shuichi clung to Ryuichi's shoulders and let himself cry out the tears that had started building, as soon as he had seen his Yuki standing in the middle of that ballroom. He had looked devastatingly beautiful in his tuxedo, and Shuichi was definitely devastated. After the worst of the crying had passed, Ryuichi pushed Shu back far enough to see his face and used a silk handkerchief to clean him up.

Sakuma San held up his bunny, as if to let it look at Shuichi.

"Kuma chan wants to know what the mean writer did." Shu flinched a little inside when Sakuma San added "this time."

"He's not mean." Shu defended "he loves me, and even though no one believes me, he's very sweet to me..." Shuichi's voice became very small " he's just ashamed to be seen with me." Saying out loud, something that had been weighing heavily on his heart for so long was, in a way, a big relief. So why had it started him crying again.

Sakuma San held him on his lap while the tears took him again, and Shuichi thought about all of the times he had wanted take Yuki out, and all of the times Yuki had made excuses so he wouldn't have to go.

"I don't think anyone could ever be ashamed of being with someone as sparkly as you." Ryuichi said this softly and rested his chin on top of Shu's head. "I know if you were mine, I would want to tell the whole world, and then I would want to tell the whole world again just in case someone missed it the first time."

They rode for awhile in the quiet darkness letting the road unwind beneath them. It was soothing and it was about a half an hour before Shu realized he had absolutely no idea of where they were anymore, or where the hell they were going.

"Umm, Sakuma San." Shu started with a hesitant voice. He had just remembered that the last time he had been alone with Ryuichi it was because Ryuichi had attempted to "rescue" him from Yuki. He did not remember much about that night but what he did remember (multiple kidnappings, drugs, handcuffs, furry cosplay, etc...) was starting to make him nervous. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to my favorite place ever." Ryu's voice started to grow bright with excitement. "You are the only person besides Kuma chan and Ryu chan that will ever see RYU AND KUMA'S SUPER SECRET CLUBHOUSE, Ryuichi Sakuma President and Top Inventor and Designer, Kumagoro Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, and you will be Assistant to the President, and Chairman of the Sparkling committee. Shu was about to protest that he needed to go home and talk to Yuki, when the Limo pulled up to a huge warehouse. "and here we are." Ryu said with a smile that could not be argued with.


	4. Chapter 4

_Due to circumstances beyond my control (Yes you guessed it…Alien abduction) I lost touch with this story for a while. Now also due to circumstances beyond my control (Waahhh! I never get to control anything!) I have some extra time on my hands so I thought I might as well return to my higher calling of writing mindless yet vaguely amusing smut for all my fellow fangirls. Let's see what the boys have been up to shall we? This is a long chap for me but there was a mystery that needed to be unraveled._

_I don't own Gravitation but a girl can dream, can't she?_

Tatsuha woke slowly, his consciousness flinching away from the blinding pain in his head. This was not a hangover. This was the vengeful spirits of the hundreds of thousands of brain cells he killed last night come back to take their revenge on the hundred or so of their brothers that had survived the slaughter. His body had decided it was not going to be left out of this mission of vengeance either and even the hair on his legs seemed to be throbbing in agony with every heartbeat. What crimes could he possibly have committed on himself to deserve this kind of punishment?

He slowly reached out one arm. It tapped around timidly searching for a cigarette, knowing that nicotine was the first peace offering it could offer the rest of body in order for this agony to end. Tap…tap…tap…hair…tap…tap…breast…tap…SCREAM! At the sound of the woman's scream Tatsuha's body shot off the side of the bed in self-defense at which time his neck got tangled in the cord of the large brass lamp, pulling it down squarely on his forehead which convinced him that he would be better off if it just killed him.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY CLOTHES? WHERE THE FUCK AM I? HOW THE FUCK DID I GET HERE?" The redhead swung her head wildly searching the room when her brain suddenly decided to remind her that they were also at war. Dizziness washed over her and she fell on her side onto the bed panting and gagging. Her eyes finally connected to something she recognized "Tatsuha? What the fuck are you doing here?"

What was left of Tatsuha's brain crawled through shattered remnants of his cognition to put a name with the redhead's face. It picked up a piece of information that had "Cynthia" on it. It sifted a little more and came up with "bartender" and "friend". He tried his best to come up with some valid answer, not a chance. The best his mind could offer his mouth to say was: "Wow you say fuck a lot."

Tatsuha wrenched his crippled body from the floor and looked around the hotel room hoping for some clue to his recent past. He stumbled into the bathroom accompanied by the moans of his friend rising from the bed and proceeded to urinate liquid that was probably still about 40 proof alcohol even after his kidneys had had their way with it. As he was putting little Tatsuha back in his pants he noticed a horrible stench coming from the tub. He glanced over to the sight of two piles of clothes covered in what could only be vomit. It was too much for him. He fell to his knees and retched up…nothing. He had no idea how many times he had done this last night but however many it had been the cupboard was bare.

He half crawled out of the bathroom to the nightstand and knocked the phone off the hook and hit 6 for room service. He didn't even wait for the cheery "Good morning". "Coffee…pot, aspirin…bottle, toast…dry, beer…six…cold" and he hung up to lay face forward on the floor and join Cythia in the moaning choir.

By the time room service arrived 15 minutes later, he had managed to stand again. It was an epic struggle of will and courage and overcoming insurmountable odds. Damn it someday, someone should make a movie about it. The smell of coffee and the discreet rattle of aspirin in a bottle managed to get Cynthia to her feet as well and soon they were sitting across from each other alternating between caffeine and "hair of the dog", each attempting to remember how they ended up like this.

Tatsuha gazed blearily around the room and suddenly realized that Ryu…HIS Ryu should be there. His face fell "He didn't come back again last night" Tatsuha shared deeply depressed. Cynthia cut through her own pain enough to give him a sympathetic look (or was it just a pathetic look? She couldn't tell). "They don't deserve us." She muttered. Those words triggered the flood of memories they needed to unlock all of the last night.

Cynthia had come to the island with her lover who was a grad student. He spent every second of his time working with his professor "and probably fucking her." She thought darkly. Tatsuha had come here with his lover, who spent all of his time in the recording studio with his band. They had met at the bar where Cynthia had taken a part time job just so she could get some human contact, and they had become fast friends sharing their pain and commiserating about their abandonment issues.

Last night from what she could remember the alcohol level and the depression had reached critical mass and they had become a two member revolution against being taken for granted. She could remember Tatsuha, bottle of Quervo in one hand, the other raised in a fist above his head, yelling there slogan: "THEY DON'T DESERVE US! VIVA LA MEXICO!" She didn't remember how Mexico entered into it but they had liked the way it sounded. At some point she remembered saying the immortal words: "Fuck em' twice for me Tats" and the two of them had thrown up on each other in solidarity. After that it was vague, she did remember stripping off in the bathroom at some time and passing out next to Tatsuha's unconscious form hoping he wasn't dead.

Tatsuha reached slowly for his cell, it was on the floor and the gravity was stronger there. He checked his messages, face turning white then green and running to the bathroom to throw up again. He checked Ryu's message again, hoping it was some horrible DTs hallucination, but he could never be that lucky. He was fucked.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi all, I realized that I may have risked open revolt by skipping to Tatsuha when there are some of you that have literally been waiting years to find out what happens in Ryu's Clubhouse. Fear not readers we will get there eventually but I have release some of the other players first. Poor Tat chan has been passed out in that hotel room since 2009 for God's sake, and Tohma's patience has worn mighty thin… and I know I sound like a PBS/NPR pledge drive but this story depends on reviews from readers like you (if I don't get any feedback, I get sad and spend all my time feeling pitiful instead of writing)._

_I do not own Gravitation…but I'm still hoping._

Tohma was in a fine mood. He wanted to skip from his limo to the studio. He wasn't going to of course. It's hard enough striking fear into the hearts of your underlings without them having seen you looking like a skipping idiot. So inside his head he skipped and outside he moved with the supremely confident glide that he had perfected over the years. It takes years to build a persona that makes others think that ice wouldn't melt in your mouth, and he sure as hell wasn't going to screw that up now.

He had Ryuichi to thank for his joy this morning. Ryu chan his best friend, his precious bandmate, the only one who was close enough to see through the thin veneer of control that Tohma had laid over the seething obsession that had become his whole world. Ryu had been in his apartment. Ryu had seen everything. Ryu had stripped away any reason Tohma had to hide his "special interests". It was a huge weight off Tohma's shoulders. He had no reason to wait any longer. It was time that he went and took what he wanted. Shuichi was going to be his and no one in his way was going to be left unscathed.

Eiri, Ryuichi, Tatsuha, K…fuck that was just the beginning, there were others starting with Shuichi's best friend and working all the way down to the mailroom boy at NG who sighs whenever Shuichi walks by. The only one who was safe from this juggernaut assault of love was Shuichi himself, his little brainless misguided love. Shuichi would resist him of course but if your kitten scratches you, you don't destroy your kitten. You use a lot of love and a little discipline to teach it not to scratch you again. The love part was already taken care of, and tell the truth and shame the devil, the discipline part had its own charm.

So it was time to get the plane in the air and pointed toward home. He was supposed to be in the studio doing audio sweetening for the next week , while Ryu was being reshot for some of the video cuts. It was the perfect time to leave, if luck was on his side he would be back in Japan before Ryuichi even knew he was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi all, I'm still boppin' along. I know my chapters are short, but I will try to update often. I am a bit ADHD and that is just how my brain works. Thanks to BettyeK for the awesome review. I was starting to feel like I was typing into the void, but now I feel loved again and have the strength to go on!_

_I still do not own Gravitation Maki Murakami Sensei does._

Eiri was not upset. He was calm…Very calm…Buddha himself would have been impressed by the calmness that radiated from him. He was so calm that he could move through the room without even disturbing the air. He was that calm, and anyone that would deny it could spontaneously combust and die in a flaming ball of agony.

What did he have to be upset about? Just because his brat had come bouncing into a gala event in front of a couple hundred of Eiri's peers and business contacts, not to mention a battalion of reporters, hanging off the arm of Ryuichi fucking piece of shit kidnapping brat stealing perverted prick Sakuma. Why would that bother him?

Eiri moved calmly through his quiet apartment. He was not just calm, he was happy. He could have a nice quiet evening alone, get some work done, maybe read a book. He was not going to waste this precious quiet time obsessing over what that mentally unbalanced bunny fetishist was possibly doing to his brat. **His** brat, **His** lover, **His** damn it, **HIS HIS HIS**. He surely was not going to waste his time wondering why **HIS** little pink moron had willingly gone **anywhere** with that dangerously deranged asshole in the first place.

He calmly walked through his living room and picked up a rather nice piece of pottery that he had bought one day while he was on a long walk trying to work out a particularly difficult passage in one of his first novels. He never really liked the pot but it matched his sofa well and he had needed a couple pieces of decorative art to keep his apartment from looking absolutely sterile. This was before he had let the brat come live with him. Now his apartment was far from sterile. There were cushions and rugs along with various plants and decorations, all bought by Shuichi for Eiri's enjoyment. Each one had been brought to him by a timid Shuichi who held them out to him like a small child offering treasures he had found. Shuichi would wait for Eiri to peruse each offering and either grudgingly accept it (transports of Joy) or turn his nose up at it (absolute devastation). Eiri admired the piece of pottery that he had picked himself, but never really liked, and watched as it calmly fell from his hand…at high velocity…into the next room to shatter against the wall. Whoops.

Eiri decided he would go to his office and check his laptop, go to Suichi's fan club page and see what **HIS **baka was up to. Then he would take a nice calm drive. Just a normal relaxing drive for no reason in particular, certainly not to hunt anybody down like an animal, take back what was his, and then beat the one who took him so far into the ground that they would need a shovel to get back out. Why would he do such a thing when he was so calm? 


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi all! I'd like to thank BettyeK once again for offering her support (happy dance for you!) and to Gothicpunkmonkeysthatscream (happy dance for you too!) Gothic have you ever considered starting a band because that would be an awesome name for it. Let's get back to the boys. Now that they know I'm writing again they are starting to jump up and down for attention. (Just metaphorically please don't send the men with the butterfly nets…God knows I don't want to go through that again). This chapter is going to be slightly dark (for me )but when I went looking into Suguru's head this is what I found. _

_I own Gravitation the manga. I own Gravitation the anime. I own various Gravitation doodads and whatnots. I do not own the story, the rights, the franchise or any of the important aspects of Gravitation._

Suguru sat in his tastefully decorated room in his parents tastefully decorated house surrounded by all the trappings of a banal, carefully maintained, immaculately projected image of the perfect upper class well respected family. One day if everything worked out as he had planned, he was going to burn the fucking place down. His family was a nest of snakes that could only take pleasure from scoring emotional points off of one another and attempting to prove that they were the one on top. They were type-A teeth grinding over achieving smug assholes who could only validate their own existence by proving they were better than everyone else. He could recognize these qualities in him-self but what are you going to do? Nature and nurture had combined to make him the pinnacle of his breed.

He had one chink in his armor. One flaw that left him vulnerable, and laughably it was just one more thing he had in common with his cousin Thoma. Music, stature, non-threatening angelic good looks, and the will to do anything it takes to get what he wants. What he wants is Shuichi, his senpai, his band mate, his fantasy.

He could only guess that Thoma had fallen for Shuichi for the same reasons that he had. Shu didn't have one conniving bone in his body. He was too naïve to protect himself and too stupid realize it. He was the one person on the planet that Suguru could trust not to fuck him over. Shuichi's emotions were written all over his face. He couldn't hide his pain or his joy. He was incapable of dissembling, he couldn't steal a cookie without the guilt forcing him to confess. Suguru would never have to wonder about his motives or worry about him knowing his place.

He had seen it unfold with Shu's relationship with Yuki Eiri, once the author had gotten Shuichi under his thumb, Shuichi had become the perfect little pet. He was loyal, eager to please and easy to control. He was in a word "Perfect" and that was before you even took in to account the raw sexual energy he gave off without even trying. Suguru had spent many concerts smiling cutely behind his keyboards, hard as a rock and trying desperately to focus on the music and not his senpai's glistening skin and pert little ass.

Suguru had set a perfect plan in motion and it was going to bear fruit any day now. He had calculated every move to make him-self as non-threatening as possible. He was sweet, innocent, pathetic little Suguru. Over the months he had timidly become a sounding board for his senpai, someone to listen quietly to his problems when Hiro wasn't available and offer his smiling support. Over time Shuichi had come to trust him more and more and Suguru's sympathetic ear had listened closely for the one thing he was waiting to hear. He was waiting to hear that Yuki Eiri had fucked up again.

Things had been going well for the couple for months now and Suguru secretly celebrated inside because the longer things went well, the more explosive the fight was going to be when it happened. The only tricky part of the whole plan was going to be getting Hiro out of the way so that when Shuichi went running for a shoulder to cry on, the only one he would be able to trust was good old dependable Suguru. All his other "friends" had proven they had alterior motives.

Shuichi was surrounded by predators. Suguru could picture them in his mind's eye. Yuki Eiri was a pitbull ready to rip anyone's throat out who approached his territory. His beloved cousin was a snake, cold blooded and cunning wanting to swallow Shuichi whole. Ryuichi was a Dragon, greedy and used to collecting whatever treasure caught his fancy so that he could add it to his hoard. Suguru saw himself in his mind as a trap-door spider, tiny and quiet waiting to jump out lightening-quick and grab his prey so fast that no-one was even sure if he had moved at all.

Suguru smiled quietly and logged onto the "Shuichi Shindou World Wide Fan-Club" website. Bratlover 1 logged on to see a whole page of pictures of Ryuichi Sakuma leading a distraught Shuichi into his Limo. Suguru began to slowly bang his head on the desk. FUCK do you know how hard it is to steal treasure from a dragon?

_Betty the answer to both your questions is "I don't know". My writing process is a bit scattered. It is one of the reasons my stories are more like an interconnected set of drabbles. I have a few points in my mind that I know will happen during the story, but the chapters themselves are like a series of stepping stones. I jump from one to the next writing a bit of this and a bit of that whenever it comes to me. I tried the more traditional way of writing a few times and just ended up with one chapter written, rewritten, discarded, written, rewritten, discarded…you get the gist. I found it was just easier to close my eyes and jump in with both feet. So I know where we're going, but don't know how we will get there. _


	8. Chapter 8

_Hi my cute little chibi readers ( that's how I picture you all. Little chibi fan girls and boys with big eyes and multicolored pony tails reading my chapters on tiny cute little laptops or cells), this opening is going to be a little bit longer than normal so feel free to skip it if you want, but I have something to get off my chest._

_I have typed Tohma's name probably 800 times in my pitiful two stories but in my last chapter I reversed the letters. That is fine, anyone can make that sort of mistake. I have forgiven myself. I have not, however, forgiven the chibi readers. Nobody dropped me one quick review to say "Hey! Did you realize you reversed the letters in Tohma's name through the whole chapter?" It's like I had spinach in my teeth and you knew it but were too embarrassed to tell me. Darn it if I have metaphorical spinach in my teeth __somebody__ tell me! _

_Seriously, I know I need a Beta but a)I don't know how to go about getting one and b)I don't write enough to feel that I warrant wasting anyone else's time. So please stick with me through the bad punctuation and run-on sentences and I will try to make up for it with some good fluff and maybe a lemon or two. Thanks again BettyeK and Gothicpunkmonkeysthatscream for the reviews. I need the support. Please everyone else drop me a sentence or two if the mood strikes you. Knowing that you're out there and enjoying this makes the work worthwhile. _

Ryuichi threw open the door to the limo and jumped out before the driver could even unbuckle his seatbelt. He reached one arm back through the door and jerked Shuichi out so fast that they landed on a heap on the concrete. Ryuichi let out an "oof" as Shu landed on top of him. Ryuichi had a passing thought of "Shu chan has been hitting the pocky too hard" and then took a quick peek at Shu chan's trim waist and the curve of his cute little rump "nope he's been hitting it just hard enough". He considered Shu chan's body for a moment and wondered if Shu had to plan out how much pocky to feed it or if it just came naturally. Either way…

The driver stepped around the long hood of the vehicle and helped the two singers from the ground. "Sakuma San" the driver said respectfully but firmly "aside from driving your car, I am also responsible for protecting your body. Please try to remember to allow me to check the surrounding area before throwing you and your companion onto the ground". Ryu looked up with surprise "You were going to throw us on the ground too?" The driver sighed deeply, he had worked for Sakuma San for many years. He cocked an eyebrow and with a straight face said "Yes, Sakuma San. I had anticipated that was what you wanted." Ryu was always amazed by Koyama San's ability to know just what Ryu needed. He smiled at his bodyguard and told him that he could go and that Ryuichi would call when they were ready to leave.

Shuichi watched with some trepidation as the limo pulled away from them. He was about to say something about not being able to stay that long because Yuki was sure to be angry with him already and he really should get home, but before he could put the thought into words Ryuichi was tugging on his hand and heading for a small door on the side of the building.

The two of them entered a short hallway with a security room on one side. There were two security agents on duty and one of them stepped forward with a what looked like electronic tablet in one hand. "Good evening Sakuma San" he said as he held out the tablet. Ryuichi laid his hand flat on the tablet and a high pitched beep came from the machine. Ryuichi looked at Shu chan smiling "could you go wait for me by the door over there" he motioned at a steel door at the end of the hallway. Shuichi reached the door and turned to wait for Ryu who was whispering furiously into the security guard's ear. The security guard gave a quick officious nod to Ryuichi who then turned and ran full tilt down the hall toward Shu. "Yay! Yay! Shu chan's going to the Clubhouse!" Ryuichi pulled a Scarf out of his pocket "but first you need this.". He turned Shuichi around and began to tie the scarf over his eyes. "Uhhh, Sakuma San what are you doing?" Shu said in a nervous voice. It is hard to trust someone to blindfold you when you have vivid memories of them handcuffing you to a chair.

"Silly Shu chan" Ryuichi laughed "you can't actually see the club until Kuma and I have performed your initiation". "Sakuma San" Shu squeeked. Ryuichi leaned in to whisper in Shu chan's ear "trust me" and Shuichi being Shuichi did.

He felt himself being led forward through the door and into a huge echoing space. Sakuma San was leading him by the hand gently and Shuichi started to think it was kind of nice to be holding Sakuma San's hand, then immediately chastised himself because this was Ryuichi Sakuma not Yuki. He could not have those kinds of feelings about anyone else…could he?

Soon he heard a whirring noise and felt a puff of damp air on his face and then Sakuma san led him forward. "Be careful here Shu chan we are about to go downstairs " Ryuichi said softly as he started to lead Shuichi down a flight of stairs. Halfway down Ryuichi put Shu's hand on the railing and said "Stand right here and don't fall, 'kay". Shuichi listened to Sakuma San's footsteps as they climbed back up and then he heard the whirring again and what sounded like a heavy weight falling to the ground. He heard Ryuichi's steps coming back down and then a bright voice "Whoops, almost forgot" more footsteps and then the sound of "Rage Beat" coming from above him, he could hear the beat thumping but it was muffled, the way music sounds when you're standing outside a dance club. They finished descending the stairs and when they reached the bottom, Ryuichi led him to what felt like a short squat motorcycle.

Ryuichi helped Shu chan onto the seat of the ATV and situated himself in front of his precious passenger. "Put your arms around me Shu chan, 'cause we're going for a ride". He brought the motor to life and Shu timidly put his arms around Ryuichi. Ryuichi was glad that Shu chan couldn't see the smile on his face right then, because he had a feeling that it would make his little passenger distinctly nervous. His grin wasn't the "cat that ate the canary" grin, the bad kitty that he got this grin from had broken into the pet store, eaten all the canaries, budgies and parakeets and was already making a move on the hamsters. He grinned on as he grabbed the handle bars and headed down the passage.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hi everyone, here is the chapter that I know you have all been waiting for. Special thanks and happy dances for BettyeK and gothicpunkmonkeysthatscream, your support is what keeps me going._

Ryuichi guided the ATV down the long access tunnel that ran between the warehouse and the "Clubhouse". It wasn't really a traditional "Clubhouse". First of all a "real" clubhouse would have to be made of wood or aluminum siding that you found at a junkyard. Second it should probably be in a tree if possible. Even though this place was more of an underground fortress, Ryu preferred the term clubhouse. If he thought of it as an underground fortress, every time he went there he would feel like a super villain.

They were almost at the clubhouse and although he was practically bouncing with excitement that Shuichi was going to see his and Kuma's favorite place in the world, he was wishing the ride was longer. He liked the way Shu chan had his arms wrapped around his waist, and he liked the way , when they hit a bump, Shu chan would gasp and hold him a little tighter. He considered several ways to get Shu chan to gasp like that again which led him to imagine the entire range of sounds that he could pull from his Shu chan if only given the chance. Ryu started to make plans for "Ryu's symphony in e major" written for Shu chan's body.

They pulled up to the small double blast doors (well…small as far as blast doors go) and Ryu brought the ATV to a stop. "Stay right here" Ryu admonished seriously "and no peeking". Ryuichi trotted over to a keypad in the wall and fished through his wallet for the keycard. He glanced back over his shoulder repeatedly to check that Shuichi was still wearing his makeshift blindfold and pulled the key from his wallet. One quick swipe of the card followed by the code and the doors rolled open smoothly. He drove the ATV through the doors and parked it in the large entrance area while the doors rolled shut behind him.

"Sakuma San…" Shuichi began nervously "can you please tell me where we are? We're not in an airplane hangar are we? Or the hold of ship?"

"Silly, Shu chan" Ryuichi chided "I would never blindfold you and try to take you someplace against your will". Shuichi let out a small sigh of relief. "You would have to be either tied up or unconscious" Ryu explained "otherwise you would escape too easily". Ryu thought that since K was his manager, Shuichi should have known this by now.

Ryu laced his fingers with Shu chan's and tugged him through the door into the central hall of his "clubhouse".

"Now Shu chan" Ryuichi's voice had dropped into a deeper register with the gravity of what he was saying "You have to swear on your very own life that you will never reveal anything about this place or anything you see, or hear, or do here. I am trusting you to protect what is Kuma and my secret now, but is soon to be your secret too. You can never tell anyone…not even Hiro. Think carefully before you make this promise" Ryuichi's voice suddenly became softer and less intimidating "It's important to me".

Shuichi considered what Ryuichi was asking him. He was being trusted with something that was obviously very important to Ryuichi. He was immensely touched. Yuki never trusted him with anything important and that hurt sometimes, but here was Ryuichi offering him a part of his life that nobody else had ever seen. Shu took a deep breath "I promise".

Ryuichi slid the scarf away from Shu chan's eye's and stood back and held his breath while he waited for Shuichi to speak.

Shuichi blinked "What is this place?" he asked, confused. He was standing in a perfectly round room with three hallways leading off from it and one door behind them, which he was assuming was how they had entered the room. The room and the hallways were all white except the tiled floors which had a black and white checkerboard pattern. In fact there were what appeared to be large inflatable chess pieces scattered all over the room.

"Well…" Ryuichi began, as he tried to figure out the best way to explain his place. He had never brought anyone here before, and never would again. Shu was the only one who he would ever allow to come here. He had been planning to bring Tatsuha after they returned from Argentina but…he was not going to think about that now.

"This started as a fallout shelter, then it was a safe house for the Yakuza, they traded it to the Columbians and then it came to me". Ryuichi had a look on his face like he was going to cry, Shuichi reached out to hold his hand. In a gentle voice he said "If you want to, you can tell me what's wrong". Ryuichi felt a warm sensation rush through his hand and take over his whole body. He decided to trust Shu chan with one of his most treasured secrets.

"First, I have to tell you a story. I want to warn you that the story has a really sad ending and I will probably cry…and then Kuma will cry…and I am pretty sure you will cry, but without the story you won't understand this place." Ryuichi took a deep breath and began.

"Did you know that K san thinks that I used to use cocaine?" Ryuichi asked looking slightly embarrassed. Shu chan's eyes went wide "He does?" Ryuichi considered Shu chan and how young and naïve he still was. "There was a man named Cruz san who was almost as much a part of the stage crew as the lighting director". "Even though Noriko, Tohma and I never used drugs, that doesn't mean the stage crew didn't indulge on a pretty regular basis. Tohma tried to keep any drug users from working on the crew, but he learned pretty quick that it is virtually impossible to put together a rock and roll stage crew of about two hundred people without hiring some who smoke pot or snort coke. The one place he could draw the line was heroin use… too dangerous…too heartbreaking to watch. So Tohma decided that instead of having a bunch of drug dealers hanging around the back door. He would allow one that he himself had interviewed back stage". Ryuichi started giggling "I always wondered if he asked for a resume".

"So…" Ryu continued "that is how Cruz san came into our lives. He was the son of a Columbian drug-lord, but as far as drug dealers went he was a pretty nice guy. So we got used to Cruz san being backstage. He was low key and kept his business out of sight. K san wasn't our manager but Tohma had given him a job as my "special" assistant, doing pretty much what he's done for most of my career. Part bodyguard…part assistant…part babysitter." Ryuichi rolled his eyes at that "Take a tip Shu chan if you accidently set your dressing room on fire a couple of times…or drop one television out of a hotel room window, they will never let you be alone again".

"Anyway, K hated Cruz san and tried to make sure that we never got to talk to each other". Ryuichi smiled brightly "luckily he failed. One day I was walking to my dressing room and an arm came shooting out of a storage room and dragged me in. Kuma and I were terrified and found ourselves face to face with the evil drug dealer. He was looking down the hall and turned to us with a finger on his lips letting us know to be quiet. We were so afraid that we couldn't have yelled for help if we wanted to. When Cruz san realized we were safe, he turned around fast and popped open his briefcase. We thought he was going to force us to do drugs. Suddenly he looked at Kuma and said "Someone told me he wanted to meet you". He pulled his best friend out of his case. His best friend was a frog named Ahiru sama. He told us that Ahiru sama had wanted to meet Kuma for a long time but K san never let him come near Ryuichi and Kuma so he had planned a secret meeting for us. After that, whenever we got the chance, we snuck away together to let Kuma and Ahi talk. We would color or play games and talk about our lives. Cruz san didn't like being a drug dealer but it was what his father wanted and he loved his father very much. One day Cruz san came to the arena and he looked normal but when we got to be alone he cried. His father had been killed and he had to go back to Columbia to be with his brothers to run the family business". Ryuichi's eyes teared up and he gave a small sob. "He was so sad and scared and there was nothing I could do to help him. He told me that he would probably never get to come back to Japan. I think he knew he was going to die too…and he did. Shot with his brothers execution style according to the detectives I hired to find him". Shu reached out to Ryu chan with tears in his own eyes and Ryu chan gripped Shu chan's shirt in his hands. "You have to keep your friends safe Shu. You won't get many of them".

Ryuichi went on to tell Shu about the package he received a few days later. A man in a regular salary man's suit had passed it to him as they walked past each other on the street. Confused, Ryu had turned around to ask him why and the man had already been lost in the crowd. He opened the package to find a deed to this property and a short note.

_Dear Ryu chan and Kuma chan,_

_The world is a dangerous place. Sometimes you can't be safe, but sometimes you can. This is a safe place and I want you to stay safe whenever you can. Ahiru sama and I will miss you, we wished you were our brothers but now we are sort of glad you aren't. It is much better that we are always going to be friends._

_ Love David and Ahiru _

"When I hired the people to go to Columbia and give David his funeral, I couldn't have them bury Ahiru sama with him. It would be like burying him alive you see. So I keep him here, safe, and he doesn't talk anymore but he's happy here and he helps me to remember my friend". Ryu's tears were starting to die down. "K has always assumed that the time Cruz san and I spent together, was spent doing drugs. I understand why he believes that, but sometimes I want to smack him, grab him by the shirt and scream at him that just because David was a drug dealer didn't mean he wasn't anything else. He was my friend and if Kuma and I had even tried to do drugs, David probably would have beat us until we swore never to even look at drugs, because you do anything necessary to keep your friends safe. " Ryuichi looked at Shu chan with a slightly guilty look. "especially if you're in love with your friend".

_P.S. to BettyeK. I know that your rooting for Eiri, but if the outcome is never in doubt…well where is the fun in that?_


End file.
